Erickson Lubin understands the danger that awaits him next month.

Lubin views Vergil Ortiz Jr. as “a savage,” an aggressive, ambitious knockout artist determined to cement himself as the best junior middleweight in boxing. The veteran southpaw was impressed with how Ortiz attacked Israil Madrimov in his last fight, an approach even Terence Crawford didn’t take when he defeated Madrimov six months earlier.

With all due respect to Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk, the proven Lubin also believes Ortiz hasn’t faced someone as good as him in 23 professional fights.

“I know Vergil Ortiz is gonna come with his best,” Lubin told The Ring, “but I think I’m his best opponent. I feel like I’m the best guy he’s gonna have ever faced.”

Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) is set to defend his WBC interim super welterweight title against Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) on November 8 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. DAZN will stream the card.

Ortiz is from nearby Grand Prairie, Texas. Lubin lives in Orlando, Florida.

“I know I’m going into his backyard,” Lubin said, “but I feel like this is where everything I’ve been through, all the hard fights that I’ve fought and all the title eliminators that I’ve been through, I feel like this fight right here is where I get all my glory.”

Ortiz, 27, went through some adversity of his own when he beat Bohachuk by majority decision in August of last year in Las Vegas.

Ukraine’s Bohachuk (26-3, 24 KOs) dropped Ortiz twice, once in the first round and again in the eighth in their closely contested bout. Ortiz recovered quickly from both flash knockdowns and edged Bohachuk on two scorecards (114-112, 114-112, 113-113).

Ortiz’s victory over Uzbekistan’s Madrimov (10-2-1, 7 KOs) was more convincing. He won that 12-round bout unanimously by scores of 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Don’t get me wrong – he’s fought Madrimov and Bohachuk,” Lubin said. “Those are two respectable opponents, but those guys aren’t the best guys in the weight class. Bohachuk, he hasn’t really been a champion, but he always brings the fight. And that was a debatable win, some would say, a debatable win for Vergil Ortiz. And then against Madrimov, I felt Ortiz looked good. Honestly, Madrimov is a little inexperienced.

“Even though he’s been in there with Crawford, that fight was just kinda like a staring contest, so much of a chess match that it was like they were feeling each other out the whole fight, until Crawford kinda like edged it at the end. But Ortiz went straight for the kill. He didn’t really respect Madrimov, and he’s young. He wanna prove something to everyone. You know, before they were talking about him fighting Crawford and stuff like that.”

Ortiz, an 8-1 favorite over Lubin, according to DraftKings, is The Ring’s No. 1-ranked junior middleweight contender for a vacant championship. Lubin is fifth in The Ring’s top 10, two spots behind the third-ranked Madrimov.

Lubin, 30, lost only to WBC super welterweight champ Sebastian Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) and former undisputed champ Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs).

Houston’s Charlo surprisingly knocked out Lubin in the first round of their October 2017 fight for Charlo’s WBC belt in Brooklyn.

Fundora beat Lubin by technical knockout after nine rough rounds in April 2022 in Las Vegas. Both boxers went down during their fantastic “Fight of the Year” candidate, which Kevin Cunningham, Lubin’s former trainer, stopped prior to the 10th round due to Lubin’s severely swollen face.

Fundora, of Coachella, California, is ranked second by The Ring. Charlo, a former Ring junior middleweight champ, isn’t ranked because he hasn’t fought in the two years since Canelo Alvarez beat him unanimously in their 12-round, 168-pound title fight in Las Vegas.